I have always been really bad about keeping things I think are "cool" to use in future artsy projects. Usually, junk will sit unused for about a year before inspiration hits me and I decide to make something with the things I have saved. When it came to items for the wedding, I hoarded like a mad woman. I had several Rubbermaid containers in my garage filled with "stuff" that I could possibly use for making decorations - and one huge container held a ton of recycled glass bottles.
I think it was the summer before the wedding my brother gave me a huge crate full of small juice bottles because they were "cool". I took and kept them thinking I might make a bottle tree one day for my garden, but actually they were a saving grace when I needed multiple vessels for various wedding items.
About 4 months before the wedding I realized that I needed something to hold table numbers, greenery, and signs for my cake table. Now of course I could have used picture frames for the table numbers or simplified the design but I really wanted to use all those saved bottles. They were just too cute to not at least try to make something with them! I also loved that the bottles I had were clear and allowed just a little bit of colored light to pass though. Perfect I thought for an outdoor ceremony!
I ended up making 3 different kinds of bottles and I made WAY more than I should have - however I did end up using every single bottle I made. Here is a tutorial of how I transformed recycled bottles into gorgeous accents for my wedding!
How to Transform Bottles into Bud Vases:
For this project you will need:
* Recycled Bottles - I used three kinds of bottles: San Pellegrino Citrus bottles, Martinelli Sparkling Cider bottles, and two large green Reisling bottles.
* Jute or Hemp Cord - I had some left over but to buy new they are $8-$15 a roll
* Small Flowers or other Embellishments - I used tiny vintage rosettes I had already and wooden bird cutouts from Hobby Lobby (They were about $5.00).
* A glue gun and hot glue for the embellishements
* Nail polish Pads
* WD-40
The first thing you will need to do is make sure your bottles are VERY CLEAN - inside and out! The bottles I used once contained sugary drinks and I wanted to make sure since they would be outside they would not attract bees or ants! I soaked all the bottles in hot soapy water and for the most part the labels came right off. The wine bottles were a little tougher and they needed a bit of WD-40 to lift the adhesive.
Once they are dry you are ready to start embellishing! However - you might want to stop a second and not screw up big time like I did. I began wrapping hemp cord and tying it around almost 10 bottles when I realized there was BLACK LETTERING printed on the neck of the San Pellegrino bottles! *UGH*!
Not wanting to get stinking WD-40 all over the hemp cord I just tied onto those bottles, I went and grabbed my tub of nail polish remover pads by Elf. They do not contain acetone so they do not smell bad at all. These took the black lettering off the bottles without any residue or foul odor!
Anyway, after I wiped the lettering off all 20 of the San Pellegrino bottles I wrapped hemp cord around the necks and secured them with a simple bow. If you notice these bottles have a hint of blue in them - it is very faint but it was a lovely color. I thought these were a little too rustic as they were for my decor, so I decided they needed a touch of vintage to make them fit the theme better.
These rosettes were from the 1970's. I bought these from a flea market and they came with a bunch of small plastic doves and metallic rings. I had them forever knowing one day I would use them and low and behold! These were all on wire stems that I cut, then I glued these directly onto the cord with a dab of hot glue. Like I said before I made 20 of these with the intent to use them for table numbers.
I had 6 of these lovely green cider bottles that I tied with with the same cord but instead of rosettes I used wooden birds for embellishments. I made these with my cake table in mind since I had a tiered tray with birds on it as well.
I will say at this point I was very proud with how all these turned out, but then I had second thoughts about those 20 light blue bottles I made. They were in fact light blue - nothing else in my wedding was blue. My mom also said several times that the green bottles were WAY cooler - which I will admit they were...but I also only had 6 green bottles and we had 20 tables. I actually tried to find more of these cider bottles to no avail so I was stuck. HOWEVER, it must have been fate, a stroke of genius in my subconscious, something when I realized those vintage rosettes MATCHED the rosettes on the back of my wedding dress...
At the last minute I also wrapped hemp cord around the necks of two wine bottles and embellished them with the same pine cones I used when I made the boutonnieres. When it was all said and done and everything was in place it looked very professional - and fancy.
Truth be told no one knew or paid attention that the rosette bottles were blue. They were PERFECT for the bird table numbers I made and they looked so elegant with my birch wrapped vases and fresh fall flowers. The whole table ensemble was set off with round wood cuts (my lovely husband cut them all) and the swirl table overlay.
And yes, I am going to brag a bit. Everyone in attendance said my cake table was the fanciest they had ever seen. And I will admit - it looked like something out of a magazine. My green bottles were perfect holders for my "flavor sticks". We served cake balls instead of a huge cut cake or cupcakes and we got them in several flavors. The galvanized and chalkboard sticks were only $0.99 each from Michael's and my mom wrote the flavors on them with a chalk marker. The tall wine bottles held dried greenery with gold swirls to create height.
The look was simple enough to blend seamlessly with the decor and yet not unsophisticated or cheap in appearance. Any bride wishing to do something similar for their wedding could use whatever bottles you may have in your recycle bin! Instead of using hemp cord you could use ribbon or even beads strung on a wire. If you were doing a beach theme you could use clear Bud Lite with Lime bottles for a fun twist, or if you are into craft beers you could clean them and keep the labels on the outside. Perrier bottles are tall and have an interesting shape or you could purchase different bottles in a variety of colors from a craft store.
My goal in creating these bottles was I needed something where the cost was minimal, they would be easy and quick to put together, and easy to store and transport. I was able to do almost 30 bottles in less than two hours. I also did these 4 months before the wedding so they were ready to go on the big day. I felt like the overall look was very elegant and wedding appropriate for what little time and money that went into this project.
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